AFFORD-SEEDA
Welcome to WikiSEEDA! or SIDA? WikiSEEDA is a place where you can come to spread your own knowledge about Africa and also learn what others have to say. It is an environment where you can discuss, debate, question or comment on past or current events. We urge you to take part in this debate because educating the world about Africa and continuing to discuss it is an important and vital step towards acheiving change. The comments you leave, long or short, are all tools for building a new perception of Africa. To add comments simply click here or the "Edit" tab on the top right hand side of each topic. You can add to the topics below or create your own. Enjoy! Unsure how to edit this page? Click here for 10 simple steps. Supporting Entrepreneurs and Enterprise Development in Africa SEEDA is AFFORD's flagship programme that launched in 2006. SEEDA harness the resources of the African diaspora - skills, know-how and finance - to support small and medium-sized businesses in Africa. Not only does SEEDA provide a service for entrepreneurs in Africa, it also benefits the African diaspora by equipping them with stronger leadership skills and an increased confidence that will help them execl in the work force. Why SEEDA? The Economic Commission for Africa calculated that every year Africa needs to create 8 MILLION NEW JOBS just to absorb those coming onto the job market. AFFORD through SEEDA has been supporting the African diaspora in the UK to contribute to wealth and job creation in Africa through providing business development support. SEEDA engages African volunteers to share their skills in a unique reversal of brain drain to brain gain. Since the first SEEDA mission to Sierra Leone in March 2006, four further missions have been undertaken, supported by Voluntary Services Overseas Diaspora Volunteering Initiative. So far 70 diaspora Resource Persons (RPs) have invested over £120,000 worth of their time and money, enagging with 800 plus businesses, assisting them with book-keeping, business planning, and marketing. At the end of the two week SEEDA program African businesses recieve a certificate of completion which acts as a form of collateral for opening bank accounts and securing capital. The gap in global inequality is finally beginng to close. In the past year both Sierra Leone and Ghana, where SEEDA focuses most its work, have had growth rates over 6% in 2008 according to IMF statistics (compared to the 1.6% growth of the UK). It is important, now more than ever, to contribute to innovative programs like SEEDA so Africa can continue its growth and become an affluent country where business and investment flourish. Migration and Development; making brain drain become brain gain: How can we keep African's migrating elsewhere for jobs? The Commission for Africa wants an extra one million health workers trained in Africa by 2015. The problem is that a large number of Africa’s skilled health workers leave the continent to work abroad. In Zimbabwe 3/4 of all doctors leave the country only a few years after they complete medical school because the wages just can’t compare with those in the West. The Commission for Africa wants the world’s richest nations to provide seven billion dollars to develop Africa’s infrastructure but that money should be going to paying the doctors in Africa. Look at the UK’s health service; spending on the National Health Service (NHS) has increased in the past 10 years but most of that increase has gone towards giving the doctors higher wages to keep them from leaving the country. It's not about the amount of money that is being spent on the health sector, it's how it's being spent. -T. Olson, US The Brain Drain is a fact of life. Naturally people are going to migrate to where there are better wages and even strong government intervention cannot counter act this force. What you need to do is look in the long term of things; people who become successful away from Africa will one day return and invest in their countries. -David, UK Africa’s job creation challenge What can we do to further job creation in Africa? We can look to the future Is job creation the strongest approach to furthering economic growth? Remittances: AFFORD’s RemitAID project Where should remittances go? How can remittances go towards a sustainable Africa? Leadership and development: Under the Tree of Talking, Leadership for Change in Africa Review Onyekachi’s book! Current: Mugabe as a leader Should international forces step in against the Mugabe government? I spent a lot of time in ZImbabwe in the mid '80s. It is tragic what has happened to this beautiful country. Should the UN freeze Mugabe and his allies' assets? Is urging government unity the right way to deal with Mugabe? China in Africa Are China's dealings in Africa fair? Business in Africa How can we improve the business environment for SME’s businesses in Africa? How can we tap into the skills and knowledge of Africans outside Africa?